Melvin Jerusalem loses WBC belt to South African foe

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Filipino boxing star Melvin Jerusalem failed to defend his World Boxing Council minimumweight championship after losing to home bet Siyakholwa Kuse in their rematch on May 17, 2026, at Emperor’s Palace in South Africa.

Despite an emphatic 11th-round knockdown, Jerusalem still trailed on the judges’ scorecards, suffering a one-sided 116-111, 116-112, 115-112 unanimous decision loss to Kuse.

Unlike in their first encounter, when Jerusalem took control of the last nine rounds, Kuse this time put out the perfect game plan to counter the Filipino’s lateral movement and fluid footwork.

Kuse slowed down and picked his spots in the rematch, catching Jerusalem off guard with a calmer and more tactical approach.

Decisive, crisp, and quick with his reactions, Kuse looked like a different fighter from the first time they met and dominated Jerusalem with his precise jabs.

To make things worse, Jerusalem became stagnant after sustaining an unfortunate deep cut above his eye midway through the second round.

As a result of the heavy blood flow gushing down his face, Jerusalem’s vision was impaired, which Kuse capitalized on as the rounds progressed.

The South African pugilist targeted Jerusalem’s bleeding eye when the fourth round kicked off to pile up his points in the official jab counter of the title showdown.

When Jerusalem tried to cover the hole by initially switching stances, Kuse also adjusted by setting up his left straight with a crafty double jab to the midsection.

Kuse’s offensive pattern continued until the 10th round, but Jerusalem found a glimmer of hope after flooring him with a vicious right flush counter with only a minute left.

Jerusalem sensed that he needed a knockout to win, so he rushed toward the home bet after he beat the initial referee’s count. Unfortunately, the clever Kuse ran away from danger, backpedaling every time the Filipino attempted to pin him on the ropes.

Kuse managed to protect his lead in the 12th round after spending most of the final frame throwing jabs, spoiling Jerusalem’s ultimate goal of a third consecutive WBC minimumweight title defense.

Jerusalem dropped to 25 wins, 12 knockouts, and four losses, while Kuse successfully avenged his loss and improved to 10 wins, four knockouts, and three losses.